ChatGPT is emerging as a formidable asset for music educators, poised to enhance student engagement, refine assessment methods, and automate repetitive tasks related to music teaching. The core of this perspective revolves around the use of custom prompt templates that support individualized and reflexive teaching practices. The broader…

Music educators consider participation to be an important part of learning in their classrooms. And as the era of accountability rages on throughout the field of education, many educators have sought ways to describe the deep engagement that occurs in rehearsals. This article considers the role that the concept of "followership" can play…

Every composition created by a young composer represents a step in the student's creative path. Assessment, an intrinsic aspect of teaching, fosters learning and propels students forward on their journeys to creative self-expression. Authentic feedback and assessment strategies must be grounded both in the individual musical context of each…

A significant amount of literature exists about how to design and implement an effective assessment process for students in a music program, specifically in the classroom setting. This article suggests a framework for incorporating individualized assessment in the private-lesson setting based on effective classroom assessment practices. Many…

Evaluating teacher effectiveness is not new in the United States. Stakeholders both in and outside education, ranging from the federal government to local school districts, have been exploring ways to increase teacher quality and quantify teacher effectiveness for years. The current trend, however, has increasingly included value-added data…

Assessing student performance is a central challenge for music educators. In alignment with previous research, this article asserts that rubrics provide a viable and useful structure for assessing music performance. To expand the potential of rubrics in music education, challenges to effective rubric construction are identified and addressed…

After sharing research findings about grading and assessment practices in secondary music ensemble classes, we offer examples of commonly used assessment tools (ratings scale, checklist, rubric) for the performance ensemble. Then, we explore the various purposes of assessment in performance-based music courses: (1) to meet state, national, and…

Feedback is crucial to students' growth as musicians. Fortunately, the teacher is not the sole source of feedback in the music classroom. Under the right conditions, students can provide actionable feedback to themselves and each other. This article showcases the work of three elementary music specialists who have innovatively incorporated…

A portfolio can document student skills, abilities, growth, achievement, and attitudes. It can also reflect students' learning processes and subsequently guide new teaching strategies. Portfolio proponents have used these arguments to justify the time and organization needed to successfully implement them in their classrooms and in their school…

A primary difficulty with music performance assessment is managing its subjective nature. To help improve objectivity, rubrics can be used to develop a set of guidelines for clearly assessing student performance. Moreover, rubrics serve as documentation for student achievement that provides music teachers with a written form of accountability.…

Evaluating students' performance and measuring growth are ongoing foundational activities in the educational process. This article evolved from conversations between the authors about essential information that preservice teachers need to be able to assess their students fairly and effectively. Although the authors' expertise is in different…

Offers a means for slowly integrating assessment with the elementary music classroom instead of attempting a "whole program" conversion. Addresses how to get started, standards of achievement, how to record the assessment information, how to inform students and adults, and how teachers can review and revise their work. (CMK)

Focuses on the use of assessment rubrics with musical composition. Provides guidelines for musical composition assignments and describes the construction and use of rubrics. Includes four example assessment rubrics. (CMK)

Discusses the use of rubrics in the music classroom, focusing on a description of rubrics, using rubrics for writing assignments and to assess performance and instruction, obtaining student input when creating rubrics, and the benefits of rubrics. Provides sample rubrics. (CMK)

Discusses how to teach the elements of music as well as the National Music Education Standards. Explains that teachers can accomplish this goal by using conjoined rubrics. Describes how to create a conjoined rubric, how to score the rubric, and what resources are available. (CMK)